‘We had an edge after the first 10 minutes when we had a couple of chances and we managed to get behind West Brom’s defence. One goal then would have given us extra motivation and drive but to be fair, I don’t think we deserved it because during the 90 minutes West Brom also had their chances and managed to create us lots of problems. There was a good intensity in their game and we weren’t good enough.’

The Chelsea manager went on to claim the only âoutstandingâ Chelsea player on the day was left-back Ashley Cole. Assessing everyone else, he declared: âThe rest of us all underperformed, from management to the rest of the players.

‘Any manager that has a defeat at any top club has more pressure and today it is acceptable that pressure piles on a little bit more. Our fans were excellent in their support and this defeat cannot be taken well because we had an outstanding record at the Hawthorns, and all disappointment from the fans is fully accepted.’

Villas-Boas made no effort to shield his players from criticism after the lacklustre display resulted in a defeat that left the Blues three points adrift of the Champions League qualification places.

‘It wasn’t good enough, and it’s not been good enough for quite some time, as our position in the league is fifth place,’ he said.

‘Something is wrong, and what is wrong is we don’t win enough games.’

He added that Chelsea would have to be ‘much, much better’ to avoid being knocked out of the FA Cup by Birmingham City in midweek.